Financial services ombudsman to fast-track small disputes

The Financial Ombudsman Service has agreed to fast-track decisions for small disputes after an independent review recommended a restructure of the ­dispute mechanism body’s processes.

The first independent review in five years found “some fundamental aspects" of the Financial Ombudsman Service’s performance did not meet stakeholder expectations.

“We argue that the next era for FOS requires a move to smaller, vertically integrated and more flexible teams, but not ‘back’ to the vertical silos of the past," Cameronralph Navigator, a ­provider of board services, said in a report published on Wednesday.

The structure of FOS, where the ­dispute process focuses on separate ­dispute resolution techniques, had lead to a “queuing" of complaints at internal stages and “some frustration" for the parties," the report concluded.

FOS said it would undergo a review of two-step dispute lodgement ­processes, consult with stakeholders on its approach to hardship disputes, reduce the number of officials who deal with any one dispute and simplify the key documentation.

“FOS looks forward to working ­collaboratively with our financial ­services provider members, industry and consumer organisations as we redesign our processes so that we can continue to provide an accessible, fair and independent dispute resolution service to consumers and their ­financial services providers," said FOS chairman Professor
Michael Lavarch
.

Cameronralph Navigator found that as at June 2013, there were more than 1100 disputes in unallocated queues at certain key stages.

Clearing the case backlog by the end of the current financial year, assuming there were no changes to staff levels, would require a 28 per cent ­improvement in productivity.